


Headcold Party

by steampunkepsilon



Series: Quirks [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Quirks, Sickfic, because why not, bed sharing, impending chicken soup, injury absorption, literal puppies, little bit of sickfic, mostly goofing around with the powers thing, quirks au, rals is mako's shadow, sick pilots, slightly divergent timeline, supernatural abilities au, tendo choi loves his becket boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 14:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8537251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steampunkepsilon/pseuds/steampunkepsilon
Summary: The only time Raleigh isn't with Mako is when he's with his brother. AU where supernatural abilities run wild.





	

As a general rule -- as the official regulations said, anyway -- utilizing any supernatural, magical, or otherwise abnormal abilities in the Shatterdome was prohibited. Too much variation in abilities to take advantage of anything, and too risky should they become unpredictable; in the beginning of the program, even small quirks were frowned upon in being used in excess. Not that it stopped techs from warming their coffee cups by hand when they went cold during a long work session, or a Ranger here and there taking advantage of a minor shapeshifting ability to avoid the press and attention outside their given Shatterdome. Any major abilities were shut down as quickly and quietly as possible, though, for the sake of keeping the peace.

However, once it came to be that Hong Kong was the last functioning Shatterdome, and the staff was decreasing as fast as the level of uncertainty increased, that rule became null and void. The moment the UN dropped their funding, Pentecost dropped the ban.

Trying to stop the apocalypse was too much of a mess to bother with keeping minor abilities in check, and for many of the staff and pilots with useful ones, they turned into assets rather than contraband. Pilots, especially; anything to give them a boost in the good fight was appreciated, especially if they could implement it into the Jaegers, or use it to benefit the rest of the Dome. Entire staff rotations were swapped around, too, based on what abilities they could bring to the table, and while Tendo didn’t appreciate being shafted with the organization on that one, he did a damn fine job of keeping things in balance. Staff that could heal, staff that could hasten repairs or find problems in circuitry faster, abnormally good cooks -- almost everything had a purpose somewhere. 

Usually, Raleigh’s purpose was following Mako around like a puppy, and when the need arose, keeping her emotions somewhat below a tidal wave of righteous retaliation. She was usually professional, dutifully well-behaved under Pentecost’s reins and gentle encouragement, but there was a lot of fire under her skin and God forbid any of the Techs get in their way in the middle of an attack. Even when stress levels weren’t that high, the younger Becket was still usually on her heels, not much else to do until he needed climb into a Jaeger, or use his own empathetic abilities to soothe some frayed nerves around the Dome. So when Mako strolled in with an arm full of paperwork and distinctly lacking her usual six feet of blonde behind her, Tendo stopped mid-sip of coffee and stared, leaning to look past her a bit as she set one of the folders down on his desk. 

“ Whoa, whoa, there. Where’s your shadow? “ he asked, gesturing to the general vicinity of the hallway she’d walked in from. She glanced back, shrugging with a sigh that told him she’d probably been wondering the same thing for the morning. It was still early, but Rals was no late riser. 

“ I don’t know. I’ve been asking the same thing myself, “ she said, glancing at the time. Oh-nine-hundred, early for some, but not for him. “ I knocked on his door and he didn’t answer. I thought maybe he would still be sleeping, but he’s usually up by now…”

Tendo considered that, nodding slowly. “ Huh, “ he mused, trying to trace the places Raleigh tended to hang around when he wasn’t with Mako. “ You check the Mess yet? Texted him? “

She nodded again. “ I did. Nobody had seen him yet. He didn’t reply to any of my messages, and he wasn’t with Gypsy, either. I thought Stacker had pulled him away, maybe, but he wasn’t there.. Then I thought he might be up here, but - “

“ Haven’t seen him yet, “ he finished, pursing his lips and leaning back on his heel a little as he thought, then taking another quick swig of coffee to finish it off and setting down his mug. “ Y’know what, I already gotta go see Yance to give him some papers, I’ll ask him. Sound like a plan? “

Mako seemed to sag a little with relief, smiling gratefully. “ _Arigato,_ “ she said with a short duck of her head. “ If you find him could you send him to Gypsy in the Bay? That’s where I’ll be. “

“ Sure thing, kiddo, “ he said, with a little salute, picking up a folder of his own and walking with her as she headed toward the elevator, stepping in and pressing for the Bay level first. “ He’s around somewhere. I’ll text you when I find him, alright? “

“ Of course. Thank you again, Mr. Choi, “ she said with a smile, waving briefly as she stepped out onto her floor and turning to make way for their Jaeger. It was a short jaunt up to the pilot’s quarters from there, and he strolled out, counting off doors as he went until he reached the second Becket room; so few pilots and so many rooms made it less than pointless to try to put piloting teams all in one, not that most minded. But it saved some nerves from getting frayed, and even though Yance and Raleigh didn’t actually pilot together anymore, they still needed the space now and again. 

He stepped up onto the door and knocked a couple of times, leaning his ear against the cold metal to see if he could hear any movement from within. “ Becket boys, c’mon. Wakey wakey, “ he called through the door, eventually hearing the familiar creak-groan of a shifting military-issue bed and some slow foot-shuffles. The door clicked and swung open a little, revealing Raleigh, haphazardly dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and sweats, and too few hours of sleep laying heavily on his face. He had some serious dark circles going on, hair sticking up at odd angles, and Tendo had to put every ounce of focus he could into not laughing for a solid minute. “...Well, good morning to you, too, “ he managed, looking him up and down. “ Care to explain? “

“ M’th’ick, “ he mumbled, rubbing his face with both hands slowly and stepping aside a little to let Tendo step up and into Yancy’s room. Yancy was lying on his bed, looking about the same way as Rals did, dressed enough to be decent and half-curled under part of the blanket, pillow over his face, presumably to block out the lights. 

“ Well, yes, but I meant about the face, “ Tendo said mildly, half-joking, and Raleigh gave him a faint shove on his way back to sit on the mattress next to his brother, pulling his knees up on the bed. 

“ _Sick,_ “ he said again, a little clearer, and he nodded knowingly, watching Raleigh flump down on his side with a huff, grinding the sleep out of his eyes with the heels of his palms. He looked like he’d maybe slept half the night, at most, and it was starting to become clearer why he was hanging out in Yancy’s room; they were practically magnets when one of them was down in the dumps or down with the sickness, or down in general. 

“ Came over here to infect your poor big bro? Stone cold, Rals, “ he chuckled, setting Yancy’s paperwork down on the side table. “ Your girl’s been lookin’ for you all morning. Walked into LOCCENT without you and I thought I was seeing things. “ He mussed Raleigh’s hair a little, leaning over the bed to get a better look at Yancy. “ Holding up, there, Yan? You both look like you crawled out of a dumpster, and I say that with the _utmost_ love and affection. “

Yancy groaned a little, keeping his pillow clamped firmly over his eyes and not bothering to try and respond. Tendo sighed, leaning over to give him a semi-reassuring pat on the chest and pulling up a chair so he could sit beside the bed. “ When you boys go down, you sure don’t take it lightly. Want me to tell Pentecost you’re out of commission for the day? “

“ Please, “ they grumbled in unison, and he snorted a little, pulling out his phone for a moment to send Mako a brief update on the state of her co-pilot. Yancy sat up after a moment and dropped the pillow, rubbing his temple stiffly, and it looked like this particular time around of sharing Raleigh’s ailments, he was managing the headache. That was his special talent, absorbing injuries and the like, though it usually put him in bed for the day, if not longer; taking on what seemed to be one cantankerous bitch of a headcold was brave stuff. Tendo glanced at him, finished his text, and pocketed his phone again, standing. 

“ Alright. I told Mako you’ve got the plague and where you are, I’m gonna go fill Pentecost in. You two take it easy, I’ll see if I can maybe work my magic and bring you something from the Mess. Sound like a plan? “ he asked, and they both sighed again, with a sense of great appreciation.

“ You’re a saint, Choi, “ Yancy said, smacking his hands together in a praying motion and sinking back onto the pillow with a wince as he shifted to get comfortable. “ Owe you one. “

“ Sure do. But I’ll take a rain check until you’re not half-dead, alright? “ He nudged the chair aside again and headed for the door, making a mental note to add some painkillers and a hot water bottle or something to that meal request. “ I’ll be back. Nobody croak while I’m away, you got that? “ he added, tone mock-stern. 

“ Love you, Tendo, “ the two Rangers returned in varying tones of discomfort and exhaustion, and Tendo smiled a little as he shut the door behind him, not completely able to force the pleased grin off his face as he made his way towards Pentecost’s office.

**Author's Note:**

> This is scrappy and short and essentially my way of trying to kickstart my quirks series. Hopefully more to come!


End file.
